Stuff

My Tank Girl review wot I did for geeksyndicate.co.uk innit

2009-06-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

To say a comic-book or comic-book character is life changing seems a bit bloody melodramatic, but for me this creation didn’t half help me over those awkward teenage moments. This took me right back to my stripey-tight wearing, Marlboro ciggie-smoking, dubious spikey hair-backcombing, Doc Marten-stomping teenage years with a bump – and what a lush nostalgic bump it was

Here’s your formula: one kick arse/crazy/drink-til-you-puke-and-fall-down/koala-hugging/kangaroo-humping AWESOME female + mayhem/intrigue/ridiculous scenarios + tanks, a submarine and a jet = BEST COMIC BOOK CHARACTER OF THE 80s/90s

The long-defunct UK ‘Deadline’ pop-culture magazine was responsible for bringing Tank Girl to the attention of the masses, although ironically TG is blamed for its collapse after the motion picture of the same name tanked (see what I did there?). But its a testament to the uniqueness of the character that TG is still going strong (albeit after a decade of self-imposed exile – again the fault of the movie), and still appeals to thousands across the world. ‘Tank Girl One’ and ‘Tank Girl Two’ gives old and new fans alike the opportunity to see all of TGs ‘Deadline’ strips collected in two luscious volumes, with a whole heap of extra goodies to drool over.

The strips are definitely of their time, with masses of late 80s/early 90s pop-culture references – but that won’t put younger readers off – the artwork alone will bring a smile to anyone’s face, and pretty much every strip is a stand-alone story so you can dip in and out as you like.

Lets’ get this straight right now – TG does not give a flying &^%$. If you are easily offended/have a phobia of mutant kangaroos or camp koalas, this is not the book for you…and if you’re looking for straight-forward plots and finely polished artwork, I’d point you towards the newer Tank Girl work – still written by creator Alan Martin with pencil duties handed to Ashley Wood in ‘The Gifting’ (2007) and the genius Rufus Dayglo in ‘Visions of Booga’ (2008) and ‘Skidmarks’ for the Judge Dredd Megazine (2009).

These books are fascinating from an evolutional (it is a word, I just made it up) perspective of just how TG ‘grew up’ – these are the very first appearances of TG and while all the strips are jam-packed full of the finest detail in each panel, whether its Spunk Beer or Tank Girl’s knickers; as the strips progress (from Oct 88 – April 93) Hewlett’s pencils get subtly sharper and easier to follow, plus the gradual introduction of colour to the strips gives you a real sense of the strip maturing (in age not in content!). not to mention as they found their confidence, copious panels involving TGs boobies and Boogas willy

One and Two are bizarre, frenetic, and action-packed roller-coaster stories, with each panel crammed to the gills with detail and chaos. Read with awe the tale of how Tank Girl seduced Booga the kangeroo, be grossed out by the colostomy bag delivery that goes awry, reel in shock at TG gatecrashing the Second Coming, be even more grossed out by voodoo plastic surgery, and cheer as troublesome mutant ninjas are dismembered – and that’s only book One

Go read this book – to see what crazy and creepy scenarios can be dreamt up by two stoner art students in the 80s, to see what the hell was so good to make the name of Jamie Hewlett famous even before the Gorillaz, and to get a powerful reminder of one of the major players in the UK comic book scene of the early 90s….and then go read everything else Alan Martin has ever written

Australia....what? everyone's reviewing Watchmen so I thought I'd be different

2009-03-09T04:17:00.000-07:00

Australia - I'd avoided seeing this for ages, cuz even though it stars High Jackman who frankly I would stalk if I lived anywhere near him (sorry Blue dear), I'd heard it was a bunch of poo.

Luckily 2 of the Geektress girls LOVED it so encouraged me to watch it.

Yes it was very long, but it was stunning looking, well paced and all the accents were in tact (thankfully so was Kidman's English accent). The story was a bit of a potential tear-jerker which is not normally my bag but I abso-bloody-lutely loved it.

It started out as a glossy Western with Kidman travelling to the middle of nowhere, Australia to see her husband who was running a cattle ranch. She captured the terribly English ra-ra Lady very well I thought and slowly changed through the course of the film to a decent bird with a pair of nuts. Although she did get to snog Hugh Jackman a few times which was rather upsetting.

Jackman was bloody great too, playing a common drover who is lumped with this pain-in-the-arse English woman..nice to hear him do his native accent too.

The film changes from Western to War film at 1hr 45 mins and the whole mood shifts with it - wasn't sure if this would work but it was bloody cool. Kudos too to David Wenham who played the baddie - another native Aussie who was just plain nasty.

I've got to say too that even the little kid in it was brill - I usually bloody hate kids in films cuz a lot of them struggle with the whole acting thing....but the little guy that played a helf-white, half-aboriginal kid was cute as a button and acted Kidman off the screen a couple of times :)

Loads of people hate this film and I think it got panned. I have to admit i probably wouldn't have bothered if it didn't have Hugh Jackman in, but I'm glad the girls ordered me to watch it

HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY

2009-02-25T05:25:00.000-08:00

So work sucks balls, the con is taking up all my spare time, and i'm more than a little frazzled - but life's a bowl of cherries right now cuz I just read that FAITH NO MORE are reforming and playing Europe this year - and by 'Europe' they probably mean 'London' but I am so there :D

God I loved this band so much - must have seen them about 14 times.

I'm spreading my interweb wings

2009-02-23T14:41:00.001-08:00

Well, kinda.

My forum buddy The Boneman asked me if I fancied contributing to his website - The Sidekickcast site which plays host to his podcast, blog and a load of other top articles etc. So even tho I don't keep up with this one as much as I'd like, I'm going to give it a go :) I might try doing stuff aimed at girls for a while..unless Bones tells me to pack it in...dunno I'll wait and see.

The podcast is well worth a listen to by the way, whether you're an old hand at the comic-book thing or just getting started. The Boneman and assorted co-hosts get really enthused about their comic books, and cover a whole range of stuff from the old classics, to spotlights on one of the 1,000,000 X Men titles, or explanations/reviews of recent big events (I almost understood Final Crisis after listening to #11)

Go check em out :)

Check me out reading a real book with no pictures!!

2009-02-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

If you know any bird that isn't a geek but is thinking of joining us in the whole geek/nerd sandpit..or is dating a geek/nerd and doesn't know what the hell their other half is talking about half the time - then I Love Geeks by Carrie Tucker is the book you should tell them about.

My buddy Stace makes a valid point in that it's not a book for those already firmly wedged into the scene cuz the book covers a lot of ground that is basic Geek/Nerd 101....but it's still a bloody cool read even if you do know your Watchmen's from your Y the Last Man's...and is laid out really nicely - easy to follow/easy to skip sections with sound bites peppered throughout the book.

Talking of which, me and Stace were very kindly asked to contribute our 'how we got into being a geek' stories via our buddy Jimmy Aquino, to Carrie..so for being absolutley no help whatsoever (me anyway), Carrie (a self-confessed geek herself) was lovely and gives us an acknowledgement in the book, and young Stace even has her own little case study quoted (*quietly seethes with jealousy*)...

So the book is out now, well worth a look, and can be ordered from all the usual outlets - the ISBN # is 1605500232. Pass it on - if I'd had this book handy when I was dipping my toe into the comic-book world I'd have done it all a bit quicker :)

Another thing, Carrie's website is updated regularly so if you want to see what else she's up to - go clicky the linky.

New York Comic Con 2009 - Sunday

2009-02-16T10:40:00.001-08:00

last day - booooooo :(

I decided to get in line early for the Sunday Conversation with Dan DiDio..and he walked along the queue with about 10 minutes to go saying 'you know you're not going to get free stuff don't you?' and laughing....a few fanboys muttered their annoyance but i said something terribly polite and British as he walked past and he kinda stopped as the guy in front of me caught his eye, and there he was chatting to a bunch of us (i have no idea who anyone else was) for like 15 minutes.... I did my very best 'stay calm mate it's only Dan Di frickin Dio stood next to you'....I was quietly chuffed with myself cuz I'd decided to wear my Comic racks t-shirt that day, and Mr DiDio glanced at the logo like once for about 2 seconds - which technically makes me and Stace famous :D

Before i could ask him to sign gail Simone to a life time contract at DC, or at the very least make her Queen of the USA, he was gone but the panel was great, I know a lot of people hate on him but he seems to really give a shit about what people think...and he is extremely funny, and i want him to be my dad :)

More later x
Oh i got the best non-Rufus Tank Girl sketch EVER from Mike Norton (see above)

New York Comic Con 2009 - Saturday

2009-02-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

Ok running out of time to finish these before I record tonight so highlights (to be filled in later, if I remember)

I met so many more people on the Saturday from the forums , and went to a Wildstorm panel which Neil Googe was on God i loved that man's work on Welcome to Tranquility - and whopped inappropriately when it was mentioned. Twice.

I also met Amanda Connor early in the morning and had a brief chat with her - she is proper lush. I tried really hard to get her to do a Harley sketch for my boy but she had stopped taking commissions already :( She is still proper lush tho :)

I met up with Luke from the forums who was my con buddy for most of the day - very glad he was with me when I saw Garth Ennis with his coat on about to f*ck off 2 hours early from his signing gig at the Avatar press booth....I practically elbowed people out of the way to dribble and mumble incoherently in his general direction and he was dead nice, said it sounded like I'd come a long way and looked slightly nervous when i grabbed his hand and pumped it a bit too enthusiastically :/

....Um, saw the chap that played C3PO from a distance, Paul Cornell blanked me for the third time and I caught up with more buddies back at the podcast arena.

I'm sure more happened but I'm rushing this a bit now......onto the evening:

The 'Podcast dinner' was not really just for podcasters but organised by Joe, with around 50 people showing up to a private room in a really nice restaurant - they brewed their own lager - which i was a fan of...then we went drinking at an Irish bar for an hour or so - then i got dragged home :( ..which was probably for the best..

New York Comic Con 2009 - Friday

2009-02-16T08:28:00.000-08:00

So I was up with the lark on Friday morning and got in Joe's way until we were ready to catch a cab to the convention centre. Joe picked up some Dunkin Donuts as we left, and I'd already decided which one I was going to steal before we got there - screw the Con I was hungry...

The Convention Centre is HUGE, and not only was the NYCC going on (with a reported 60,000 tickets sold for Saturday) but the Travel Show was also in the same venue, and that was equally as massive...to put it mildly this was my dream venue - I would KILL for a job in a place like this. Ho Hum..

So we trekked to Podcast Arena, the part of the Con that Joe was in charge of as I found out, and got in Joe's way until he sent me off for coffee :D
Meeting the other podcasters was pretty surreal, some i'd listened to before, some i hadn't - but i certainly will be now - they were all thoroughly lovely chaps (and one chap-ess) and were very friendly and approachable: Comic Geek Speak, Dafixer's Hideout, Indy Spinner Rack - all of who/whom (?) I've heard but never met....CGS are like the royalty of the podcasters, after all it's their forum we sit under, but they were dead nice, especially Bryan and Murd....the other podcasters were very cool too - I've never listened to Raging Bullets but I will be now..and the other guys were (of course) Comic News Insider, Geeks Unite, and Comic Timing - all guys I've met before and continue to be lovely.
I was reprimanded for not bringing any Comic Racks flyers to promote us but that was a conscious decision, cuz I just wanted to buzz around the con and pimp CNI when i was asked to :)
My first wig-out was when Lou Ferrigno walked past Podcast Arena ...I made an OOOOO face and he sped up when he saw me :D I ran around to tell some of the guys and got a few 'oh dude he is like here EVERY year'...sob :(
Anyhoo one of the best bits of the day ever was meeting Geektress!!! These girls are bloody awesome and lovely and friendly and they swear as much as me!!..and it was really wierd meeting them cuz I've been playing their podcast for weeks now :D After introductions, we split up for a bit and then met up for lunch, and on the way to lunch I ran into the awesome CONN who it is always a total pleasure to see - if you haven't come across Unemployed Skeletor where have you been??
I also ran into Erica Hesse who was looking as peachy as ever (the swine) and was only there for the Friday so i didn;t get to hang with her much :(
I'm getting confused as to what panels were on which day, but i'm pretty sure that today I went to the Vertigo panel with the fabulously awesome Chris, and got to gape at Peter Milligan who is a Brit who has previously worked with Jamie Hewlett years and years ago so is therefore just bloody brilliant by default :D I can’t really remember who else was there (a woman with a weird cape thing was sat there but I have no clue who she was) Brian Azzerrello (?) however was the donkeys conkers – I’d heard of him but never seen him before – he dealt with hecklers very well indeed. (for hecklers read – whiny fan boys) J

I know I did more on the Friday but I’ve forgotten half of it – ooo I did make Jimmy escort me to Mike Norton at the Cadence Art booth where I nearly hyper-ventilated but managed to cling on to a few strands of self control and got Mr Norton to sign the original page from Gravity that my fantastic husband bought me :D :D

The last big thing that happened that day was the Wonder Woman premiere!!! Nathan Fillion and some other famous but not so cute people did the voices, and it was written by Lady Simone (so we know it’s going to be brilliant already!) a big whoop went up when we saw her name on the screen – man I wish she’d been there :(

The film was bloody brilliant and funny, I thought so anyway..i think a few of the hardcore nuts thought it was too different to WW’s usual pace but ppfftt to them :)

I was determined to stay for the Bruce Timm panel but I was literally dead on my feet so I watched him come on, cheered and fled the auditorium :)

Had dinner with Joe and the lovely lovely Mike and crashed again – no parties for me :D

New York Comic Con 2009 Thursday

2009-02-16T08:13:00.000-08:00

I should have written this when I got back cuz I'm bound to forget stuff, but I was sick (damn plane germs) and also lazy.

So I've been back almost a week and I kinda can't wait to drag my boy off to next years :D He didn't come with me this year which sucked huge amounts of arse and I missed him every day :( I must have entered about 50 contests for a trip FOR TWO to NYC and the one I win? ONE flight to NYC...for which I still pay nearly £200 for the taxes etc, £42 for the coach trip to Heathrow, and £50ish for the insurance...but yes, still tons cheaper than going as a pair and getting a hotel for a few days.

I stayed with my gorgeous friend Joe who looked after me really really well, and was a great host. He was also responsible and sensible, so had me home by 10 or 11 each night - which for NYC is early!! Bloody glad he did though cuz I was knackered all the time :D

So, my trip started with a coach at 2330 from Cardiff, which got my to Heathrow around 3am...i was supposed to sleep on the coach but as I dozed off somewhere outside Newport, the coach slid slightly, I looked onto the road and HELLO I was awake - the roads were thick with snow, so for the next 2 and a half hours I was wide awake convinced we were going to crash and i would never get on my plane.

Surprise, I over-reacted :D Got to the airport only about 20 minutes late and waited for THREE hours until my Terminal woke up and I could check in - then I hung around for another two hours wildly debating buying a box of matches so I could prise my eyes open...well Heathrow is a slightly scary place at night with people randomly asleep in the middle of corridors and shop fronts.

Plane ride was cool, still couldn;t sleep though, and I was sat next to a scary reverend dude from one of them new-fangles churches who was trying incredibly hard to convert the woman sat on the other side of him...I think he sensed my 'F*ck Off' vibes when he sat down next to me, so didn;t bother me all flight - hurrah!! Even when i jabbed him in the ribs he ignored me - sweet :)

The lovely Raph (Wraithmaker) met me at the airport and took me back on the bus to Midtown - after Paul Cornell blanked me for the first of four occassions over the weekend. I rock. We did a little sightseeing in Times Square then met my host Joe who took us on a mini shopping expedition then onto Jimmy's for a very swish dinner then home for zonking out. Maaan I have never wanted sleep more :D

Shoes I want - what? I'm a bird :)

2009-01-30T05:30:00.001-08:00

Things that annoy me today

2009-01-28T06:15:00.001-08:00

In no particular order:
1. Iggy Pop advertising car insurance
2. Cannabis being put back into the Class B catagory (don't smoke anymore but the 20 year old me is outraged)
3. Finding out what my Vice Chancellor gets paid per year & then getting an email from him stressing the importance of 'living within our means'. Smug git.
4. Dealing with an events organiser who is RUBBISH at her job
5. It's not Friday
6. Not being able to take my husband to NYC with me next week :( :( :(

2009-01-23T18:11:00.000-08:00

www.cymrucon.co.uk

That's whats keeping me busy and active and excitable right now :) My 'real' job sucks balls in hell (I'm an events manager but i currently do events/student projects 40/60 which sucks) but being given the opportunity to help organise something like this is pretty bloody awesome.

So far me and the guy in charge have got a very cool guest list - and we are really chuffed at the amount of people who have already said 'YES' to an unknown Con, and it's really cool getting feedback off friends about a new con...it's probably not the best idea in the current economic climate but as long as the money is in place and the creators & exhibitors turn up it should turn out to be a bloody good show...

So we've got James Barclay, Barry Kitson, Rufus Dayglo, Jock, Emma Vieceli, Rob Williams, John McCrea, Mike Ploog, Mike Collins, Dylan Teague, Kev Sutherland, Liam Sharp, Tony Lee, Mike Carey, Barry Kitson and Ian Churchill.

And that's just so far :)

2009-01-23T18:08:00.000-08:00

I know you either love or hate him but this Whubble strip made me wee a little :D

http://www.bohdate.com/whubble/index.php?start_from=4&ucat=&archive=&subaction=&id=&

Wot I am reading innit

2009-01-03T05:42:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit shit at reviewing stuff when i'm on Comic racks so I figured I'd start writing shit down (which only dawned on me as I was scribbling stuff on the SFX forum wall - which is brill...the forum,not my scribbling).
So here's the last three I read - last night in bed at 9.30 pm on a Friday night - yes, I was very hungover :)

Short Stack #3
written by Shawn Gabborin (Angry Gnome Comics)

Like the first 2 collections, this is 13 horror/creepy stories, 1 writer and different artists for each (un-connected 2 page stories). I'd recommend it for people who really like very short stories, but some may get a little frustrated (in a good way) at not seeing the stories progress further.
I got it through IndyPlanet.com

The Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo Vol 2
Dwight L MacPherson (writer), Avery Butterworth (artist)
I picked this up after reading Vol 1 and loving the storyline and awesome art by Thomas Boatwright - he's not doing the 2nd volume which I was initially disappointed to hear but Butterworth does a bang up job and the colour work lends itself to the surreal, spooky, dreamy themes of the story.

Dock Walloper #5
I think i got really hooked on this when it first came out because I'm a 30's gangster film nut, and that's exactly what this is - i picked it up by chance and heard that it had originally been touted as a film script by Ed Burns but no-one wanted it. I know Virgin comics got a lot of slack for picking up comic book storylines this way, but i'm flipin pleased they did cuz I've really enjoyed it - i think this is the first Jimmy Palmiotti stuff I've picked up (yeah I'm quite a noob) so I'm off to find some more.....

Oooooooooooooo bugger I keep forgetting about this blog !!

2009-01-03T05:24:00.000-08:00

So it's the Noo Year, everyone is full of good (or slightly improved) intentions, including me... have the usual - lose a bit of weight, eat better, stop killing my liver.....like I said, the usual stuff :) But I also want this year to be a bloody good one in terms of personal acheivement - I've got a lush husband who treats me like a princess, a half decent job which pays ok - and although I hate half of it and want another one, it aint going to happen in this current economic climate blah blah, so basically I need to be more grateful for my home life with the boy, my job and my friends.

I had practically the worst christmas ever with my parents (last years was the worst when I took the boy, so this year I couldn;t bear to put him through it again), but again, i need to appreciate shit more cuz it doesn't last for ever and you have to make the best out of whatever situation you are presented with - not site on your arse and whinge about it.

...the Cymru Con 2009 is approaching in August and I was really fortunate to know a bloke who knew the bloke kick-starting it so word got back that I'm an events organiser and bob's your uncle....The con will be awesome even if it's tiny-wee..the feedback we've had so far is that people in S Wales are looking forward to it, and the creators and Pro's we have approached have all been supportive and happy to attend..so far so good. It's a little frustrating not being in total control but that's only cuz i'm used to *having* total control, so it's a little out of my safety zone....but I'm working really hard on it and looking on it as both a nerd-gasm and good work experience too :)

so um, yeah, bit of a long one this - but that's another Noo Year reso-whatsit, to keep this more up to date - no-one reads it but it's a good venting place innit?

Brumbrumbrum Con 08

2008-10-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

Even though I managed to catch the infamous Con plague this year (1 out of 4 cons aint bad) this Brum con was bloody brilliant :D :D

We met up with a load of our UK buddies from thecomicforums.com - a few of which we'd not seen in 'real-life' before - which was bloody awesome....It's always really really fun to hang out with these guys :)

We had a table as the UK Comics Podcast Group which was a giggle as we got to hang out in the main hall without actually blocking the aisles (something a lot of comic fans seemed blissfully unaware of - growl), and we got to have loads of good chats with our podcasting buddies in person for once - woot!!! I think i gave out one whole flyer the entire time I was there cuz i was way too scared to actually make contact with anyone looking at the table (although to be fair most people walking past found the floor way more interesting - standard con behaviour i think).

We all hung out in the evenings and im very proud that on the Friday night I only came second for drunkest person (Lenny came first in spectacular fashion), Saturday night I took the crown but that was mainly cuz I didn;t eat a thing all night - twat. Anyhoo we went to the Briar Rose first and hung out a bit with Tony Lee who is a thoroughly nice chap, and then went to Bennetts where I allegedly spoke to Paul Cornell for about 20 minutes (wish I remembered that - sigh) and apparently he introduced my podcasty partner to the SFX editor who is thinking of doing an article on podcasts (and Paul had said we'd done a cool interview with him) to which my partner said 'oo your forums are shit'. Nice one - guess we won't be in SFX anytime soon now *fume*.

So onto Sunday, a very nice chap walked up to me as I was (literally) running off for the Tank Girl panel and said 'are you Iz?'.........'uh...yeah?' says I..'oh i listen to your podcast - I've got a comic for you' says he and hands me a very glossy looking copy of High Pilot....now i'm so hungover and in a panic about missing TG I kinda stood there and said 'oh thank you' a lot like an idiot and then ran away. So I am very very sorry Dom Regan and next time I will be more polite :D

So on to the highlight of my Con - the Tank Girl panel.....Squuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!
Bloody awesome stuff - I'd seen Rufus Dayglo around the day before and kept bottling going up to him to get a sketch and signature on my shiny Megazine I'd brought along. Seriously I am pathetic when it comes to meeting artists or writers (actually musicians too - there's a particularly cringe-worthy encounter with Clint Mansell from PWEI c.1995 I try to forget) which is why I've only ever approached Charlie Adlard for a sketch before (for the record: one of the nicest men in comics ever). ANYWAY, went to the panel, sadly Alan Martin couldn't be there, but Rufus did a bloody great solo job - loads of great anecdotes about the creation and continuation of Tank Girl....I think Damon Albarn will be forever known as Demon Arseburn to me now :D

After the panel Mr Dayglo did a signing session and I got in the queue after having a tantrum that I'd forgotten to buy the elusive KitKat for him - which I had been banging on about all weekend - so my lovely husband ran off to get me one while I queued :) I heart him.

When it was my turn I had planned to say (all suave-like) 'Hi, I read on your blog that you draw TG in a dark room with copious cups of tea and an endless supply of KitKats, so i thought you might be missing them, here you are' but what came out was 'I.read.on.your.blog.you.like KitKats.....so.here.is.a.KitKat'. twat. Luckily Mr Dayglo was extremely happy with the KitKat, did me a bloody awesome close-up of TG's face, and after I commented on how awesome it was to be able to look through his sketch books/portfolios in the panel, he dived into one of them, pulled out a sketch of what will be the cover of the next Megazine and signed it 'Thank you for the Kit Kat'. He is my new favourite person ever. (Not in a creepy wear-his-skin-for-a-hat way, just a he-is-brilliant way) :D :D :D

So after that we trundled back to the con floor, i was given two very lovely sketches I'd asked for earlier in the day - Tank Girl of course - one from Simon Wyatt (Orang Utan Comics), and one from Stu.Art (Monkeys with Machineguns)....I sat on the table for a bit until our lift got restless, we said our goodbyes and wandered off, all misty-eyed like until Bristol Con 09. *sob*

Now all I gots to do is win the Lottery so I can go to Leeds and Dublin next month :(

Brill comic news :)

2008-09-26T05:26:00.000-07:00

The lovely Shawn Pryor of PKMedia has written me and Stace into Mercury in the Murd and we recently saw the pages for issue 4 drawn by Chad Cicconi (who also draws the excellent Baby Boomers - www.markosia.com webcomics section). Sooooooooooooooooooooooo exciting to be drawn into a comic book - woot!!!

There's something else on the horizon but i'm sworn to secrecy for now. Woot again!!

Uhhhhh stuff and Brum Con !!

2008-09-26T04:58:00.000-07:00

Oops, haven't updated this for a while - um.....what's been happening....ok, I had a week off work (first one since Oct 07 and the awesome trip to NYC), and went to Spain to chill out with a mate who lives over there, leaving my poor ill husband to fend for himself (or rather fend off his mother trying to move in as soon as I was gone to look after him). So I get there and spend 4 hot, relaxed, in-the-sea days until the last night where I fall over like a twat and dislocate my little finger. Idiot.

I fly back the next morning as planned with my finger in a cup of ice and some well-meaning grannies pestering me all the way back with offers of Ibuprofen and hot chocolate. Bless em.

Anyhoo, lovely husband rushes me off to A&E where they aneasthatise (how the hell so you spell that?) my finger as I've opted to not go for gas and air. If anyone asks you which you'd prefer - do gas and air!! Anaesthetic hurt like a f**ker and I squealed like a small 5 year old child....the nice man pops my finger back (at this point I can feel nothing but still scream the place down) and sends me off to xray again - 'to check I haven't broken it by relocating it' - nice!

He hadn't, and i got bandaged up and sent home - unsurprisingly without my sticker or lollipop saying 'I was brave' :D

So now I have a bright blue bandage on 2 fingers of my left hand for 2 weeks - which I've adapted to rather well - after being a bit pathetic for a few days and refusing to do anything with my left hand - and it comes off in 4 days hoepfully - woot!! Just in time for Brum Con.

yeeaahhhhh - i've been looking forward to Brum Con since Bristol Con really (aint it always the way) ......Reasons to be cheerful:

Seeing a load of the comicforums.com people :)
Hopefully getting Alan Martin to sign my very old Tank Girl trade
Hopefully getting a TG sketch from Rufus Dayglo - his TG stuff is gorgeous
Trying for another sketch from Charlie Adlard
Keeping an eye on our mate Harv who tried to ask Bisley out for a fight at Bristol. (Biz thankfully refused otherwise our mate would be an ex-Harv i think)
Sitting on the UK Comics Podcast table and promoting everyone else except Comic Racks - cuz me and Stacey are allergic to self-promotion - huzzah.

Of course I'm getting all excited but we might not make it at all if my other half doesn't get better - killer chest infection and he can't see the doctor until Tuesday. sassannfrassen.

on the plus side

2008-08-29T01:18:00.000-07:00

I've just discovered the iTunes Radio station and i'm listening to K-ROCK for the first time. At full volume. With my headphones on. In an empty office.

I'm beginning to see the bright side :)

growl

2008-08-29T01:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I couldn't go to a funeral because of my stupid f***ing job and today I cancelled my leave to finish off what I was doing yesterday, and subsequently I'm missing a big family party in the South.

I f*cking hate my job so much and get f*ck all thanks for what I do.

the end

Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamie Smart

2008-08-27T03:49:00.000-07:00

I've had a cruddy last few days in terms of bad news and shiz, so last night me and Stace (de la Racks) cheered ourselves right up with a bloody awesome interview with Jamie Smart. www.fumboo.com The actual recording is a bit rubbish and it sounds like Jamie is mumbling so we'll probably get some shit for it but we had such a fuckin laugh I don't care :D

Genuinely nice, humble bloke who put up with us for over 2 hours while we got way to familiar with him ('Jamie, do you need to tinkle?'), but that just goes to show what a regular sound bloke he is. We had tons of questions from people and asked most of them even though Jamie got way more excited about the question 'what are your top three favourite biscuits?' than any comic-related ones :)

Plus I got to tell him about Tank Girl being re-launched in the latest Judge Dredd Megazine (prompting the comment 'wow, you're better than my mum').........which he was proper excited about - i think - he might have just been being polite.

anyhoo, he is awesome and so are his creations Ubu Bubu, Angry Little Robot, Space Raoul, DFC Olympics, and his work on Desperate Dan is pretty damn peachy too.

Dark Knight tonight

2008-07-23T02:45:00.000-07:00

Oooooooooooooooooooooo I am both excited and dreading tonight - I finish work early, grab some food and go straight out with the other half to see Batman :D

I am so excited about this film it is ridiculous..but I am dreading going cuz the cinema we go to is in the middle of nowhere (in Nantgarw), has a bowling alley next to it, and its Orange Wednesday - so all the snotty local kids get in their souped-up pimp-mobiles and make the place look and feel like kicking out time at the roller disco...only with Mad Dog 20/20 involved.

Hate Nantgarw with a passion..but it was the closest place to go on preview night. At least we've got our tickets already printed out.

Now...where's my tazar gun?.....

Ubu Bubu ROCKS

2008-07-15T05:42:00.000-07:00

Yeah I should have done one of these sooner - maybe I'll do some in retrospect....since I fell and hit my head I've turned into a bit of a goldfish (more than normal, honest) so whenever I DO think 'oo I'll post that on my blog', i promptly forget 2 seconds later....

BUT this is so coooooooooool I had to post it up - Jamie Smart who wrote Ubu Bubu (which for the unitiated is a FUCKING AWESOME comic book about a demon living inside a cat - published by Slave Labor Graphics - and contains such FUCKING AWESOME gems as Ubu Bubu spelling out 'Suck My cat Nuts' in his puke) has asked if he can be on our podcast.

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Yeah, he might be joking but I'm doing a happy dance anyway. He says:

"once again, missus and missuses, you have made my tiny little fluttering ego heart leap a little in needy joy at hearing your glowing review of my comic brain defunctions. it can be weird realising the idiocy one puts to paper can cause someone else to laugh, i still can’t get me head around it. at least i haven’t caused bum floods from anyone yet, thats a physical response i’m not after.i think i love your podcast. can i be on it? i don’t know anything about comics or anything, but i can do a dance. it’s obscene and people die though.
jx"

2008-04-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, haven't done of these in a looooong time.

So I had my first saturday free from editing (which I love it just takes up the whole day cuz I'm a fiddler)..so I went into Cardiff, had Starbucks and Sushi (octopus and everything!) and then went to the 2 comic shops there (Planet and the independant Comic Guru) and managed to spend £20 in each of them :O

I picked up a real-life copy of Gnome by Dave Dwonch which is brilliant - I was jammy enough to be sent a pdf copy to read but having the real thing in my hands is brilliant. he's a top guy is dave and I'm really chuffed for him to have another comic out. Which reminds me I have to pick up Special Education #2 sometime.

I also got the 2 latest 2000AD's. I've really got back into this with a bit of a passion (i used to buy it years ago) - some of the artwork is phenomenal, and the writing is pretty brill too. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the creators at Bristol Con now, now that I actually know what they do.

Picked up loads of other stuff which I shall blah on about later, but now I have to go watch Pushing Daisies episode 3 - it's my brand new 'oh-my-god-this-programme-is-amazing' show and i already don;t want it to end :)

Happy Happy Joy Joy

2008-03-14T03:24:00.000-07:00

Well I'm still editing my first episode of Comic Racks..and I now know what a 'Stacey pause', an an 'Iz sniff', and a *drinking* noise look like in Audacity..one thing I haven't worked out is how to turn my bellowing down when I get excited. Which is quite a lot. Hmm.

Today is pretty cool so far, I have a half day (which is always lush), and I'm sat in my house editing in my Yeti slippers, waiting for the carpet-measuring man to arrive. Rock n roll.

It's a pretty big achievement for me cuz it's taken me and Rich 2 years to get off our arses and buy real carpet for our house to replace the 'temporary' strips that we've had dotted about since we moved in.

Woot!!

Woot!!

2008-03-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

I just started editing a Comic racks episode and I'm loving it :D I'm a bit of a control freak at the best of times so being able to cut all my Umms, Urrs, *sniffs* and general twatishness out is awesome. I'm making myself leave some stuff in tho if it's vaguely funny.

Stace (my co- Rack) is always funny and needs very little editing I think, but it'll be intriguing to see what she cuts out when she has a go...

So editing is my new obsession.....put that together with a box of hidden M&S chocolate twizzle sticks from Xmas that I found hidden at the back of the cupboard, and I'm quite a happy monkey this evening :D

Things I hate today

2008-03-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

My husband having a day off and me being stuck in work

Feeling like a podgy f*cker

Being so addicted to the Wii I stayed up til 2am playing the damn thing - now I look and feel like a panda in a fist fight

No job vacancies

Toothache and dentists waiting lists

Wow...i'm in a BAD mood

Things I love today

2008-03-10T06:12:00.000-07:00

Real Coffee (I had 2 huge mugs already)

Maltesers (I have half a box at home waiting for me)

The Adam and Joe radio show - BBC Radio 6 (it keeps me sane in work)

Sushi (mmmmm)

Sims Castaway - Wii (I played it 4 hours straught last night and had to be dragged off it)

Q!PAW podcast (hamsters in costume fighting to the death)

Co-codomol (mmmmmm no more tooth ache)

Godsmack

2008-03-08T06:24:00.000-08:00

Funny name for a band - Godsmack..

I just saw them on Launch.co.uk and they are REALLYANGRYSHOUTYFURIOUS kinda music. With the name Godsmack I just imagine someone with a rolled up newspaper smacking God on the nose..."BAD God BAD". S'all.

Shallow - moi??

2008-03-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

Crap. The bird just told me there is a film due out with both Hugh Jackman AND Ewan McGregor in.....which frankly made me squeek and run off to IMDB to look up the details...it turns out my other half was right..BUT then I scrolled down to see:
Plot Keywords:Nun / Nun's Habit / Mother Superior

wtf?? the film is about one guy who introduces another guy to a sex club and then murder and intrigue ensue (from what I can translate from IMDB) and the keywords involve nuns!!

My forum and work buddies already know that i have a HUGE irrational fear of nuns - so this *should* be a film I avoid like the plague...and frankly if the plot involves a sex club, I *really* hate to think how nuns are involved....but if Hugh Jackman is in it, I'm kinda obligated to go - yeah, I am that shallow :D But I may need therapy for a while afterwards :/

I'm an idiot :(

2008-03-07T03:14:00.000-08:00

So I like half my job and hate the other half (and I have the complaint everyone else has that I have way too much to do and not enough time to do it in) - I'm trying really hard to find a new job, but jobs seem few and far between at the moment :(

I found a pretty cool job at Cardiff University and the deadline was 6th March - all cool, I filled in all the easy stuff and cut and pasted in my qualifications etc etc, I settled down to complete the person specification part that always takes me *hours* and I was half way through when I thought, oh I'll just look over the whole job description once more.....the deadline was 5pm, and I was reading this at 9pm.

B*llocks and a*se, I was assuming that Cardiff University would have the same cut-off points as Glamorgan University (which is 12 midnight).

Lesson learnt :(

Start as you mean to go on...

2008-03-04T04:29:00.000-08:00

i'm guessing this blog will be my area for ranting about crappy stuff and raving about cool stuff in equal measure...but i'm going to start with a mini-rant.

I'm not fantastic at replying to emails, I'll hold my hands up to that one straight away. I'm also not the best at keeping in touch with people - Facebook (although it can be incredibly annoying at times with all its 'add 20 people' shenanigans) has been a bit of a life-saver for me cuz it makes me way better at keeping in touch with my friends.

After living away for years, the other half and I moved back to Wales several years ago and used to try and organise get togethers with our friends (with varying degrees of success). One guy in particular was like 'oh yeah i would but the wife wants me to do something', 'oh yeah I would, but i have to go do this thing' 'o yeah i would but i can't be bothered'..the guy didn;t even bother turning up for our wedding even when he'd accepted the invitation.

We do get contacted by him, but only once every 4 months or so - it's always the same thing: 'Hi guys, my band is doing this great thing / recording a video / up for an indie award / going to be on tv' all sent to about 150 of his closest friends. Which is fine. I don;t wish him bad luck with the band and i'm glad he's doing half-okay with it. But I used to send an email after each one from him 'hi good to hear from you, glad stuff is good, great news on the award / tv...i have voted for you...we should all meet up soon blah blah blah. Nothing.

can't be bothered. If you don't ever see me don't bother sending me updates about your ****ing band.